Process of balling scrap metal.



y n.11. LENTZ. PROCESS OF BALLING SCRAP METAL.

APPLICATION FILED ,JAN.6. 1911.

Patented Dec. 26, 1911.

2 SHEBTS-SHEET l D. H. LENTZ.

Pooss 0F BALLING SCRAP METAL.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 6, 1911.

Patented Dec. 2.6, 1911.

2 SHEETB-SHEBT' Z.

MA. .mimm

llnllll.

DAVID H. LENTZ, 0F CHICAGO, IIIILIIBI'OIS.

PROCESS or BALLING SCRAP METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Deo."26, 1911.

Application filed January 6, 1911. Serial No. 601,131.

To all 'whom it may concern:

I Be it known that I, DAVID H. LENTZ, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and use-A ful Improvements in Processes of BallingScrap, Metal, of which the following is a specification. My inventionrelates to a-new and improved process of welding scrap I'netal intorelatively solid bodies of iron, especially in such a process fordirectly welding a mass of scrap metal into a Asubstantially homogeneousbody of iron of a character .suitable for immediately forming into`abloom or billet and, in the preferred practice of my process, this isaccomplished by balling the ,scrap metal, that is, by automaticallywelding it directly into va substantially homogeneous, roughly sphericalbody of a character, density and form suitable for directly forming intoa bloomor billet of any required size by treatment in a squeezer androlls in a familiar manner. Especially is my. new process adapted forrapidly bringing about t-his result with charges'composed of scraps ofiron of varying sizes and weight, without previous cleaning.

A further object of my invention is to attain these results more rapidlythan hasheretofore been possible, with unskilled labor and at a greatlyreduced fuel cost per ton of metal treated, while at the same time'producing a denser and more homogeneous product than has been possiblewith any methods heretofore known.

Another object ofmy invention is-'to provide a method for the treatmentof common scrap metal, such'as ordinary railroad scrap iron, so as tosimultaneously purify the same, raise it to a welding temperature androughly weld it into a mass suitable, without reheating, for beingrolled directly .into a homogeneous billet of refined iron and all lwitha' minimum fuel consumption and a minimum lossl byoxidation.

Scrap metal has been formed into billets or the like by making piles orfagots. of the material, heating the same and then passing them throughrolls. This method is costly' and in other respects undesirable. Inorder that the billet lshould have a good skin, that is, in order thatits surface should be clear of irrt gularities and suiciently tough toallow the billet to be put` through subse quent -rolling operations andalso in order to 'conneythe small pieces of loose scrap so' that thecharge ,can'be'passed through'roll's and welded together when'brought tothe proper temperature, it is necessary. to inclose the smal-ler piecesof scra'pln a box made up of strips or sheets of fairly high grademetal. This latter metal is comparatively expensive. Moreover, the ilinghas to be done by-hand and the heat-mg of the piles in order to get themetal into a condition to weld is the work of skilled laborers. Inaddition, the scrap, at least ofthe cheaper grade, is likely to becovered with dirt, rust, scale and the like, which, of course,linjuriously affect the quality of the product. ,It will also be seenthat either this scrap'in the charge must be rst subjected to a tumblingor other cleaning operation, which means an itemof additional expense,or else that the superficial scale, rust and other impuri- A ties willbe inclosed within the charge and,

whether subjected yto a previous tumbling operation or not, there willordinarily be a considerable percentage of impurities adhering to thesurface of the scrap in the charge. 4These impurities will necessarilybe incorporated in the resulting billet when charges so made up areheated and welded into a billet by passing through rolls, except as apart. lof 'such impurities may escape in the form of cinder.Consequently in all processes heretofore practiced commercially for theutilization of scrap, the resulting p-roducthas been necessarily impure4and 'of an inferior quality, whereas, with my process, this samequality-of scrap maybe utilized to produce a high grade, refined lron-ofvery superior quality with an actual saving in labor, cost, fuel andfurnace loss;

Another object-ion to this old method is due to the fact that,A with thecharges of metal v thus piled together,- the interior' of' eachchargeheats more'slowly than the exterior, so that the entire charge.must be subjected to ,a high temperature until the interior of vthecharge is brought to a welding heat.

This not only increases the fuel cost and calls for skill on t-he 4,partof the laborer attending to the heating of the charge, but results in anobjectionably-prolonged heating of the outer part of each charge witharesulting loss by oxidation, which-,together with the loss because ofthe rust, scale, etc., contained in eachcharge which.v is consider#inlaat?.

able, results in an excessive production of eiuderwand tends to lowerthe quality of the resulting billet-when the heated charge is rolledinto a bar.

According to another familiar process, scrap .has been hailed by hand inbusheling furnaces. This Work must also be done by high-priced, skilledlabor and the size of the balls is necessarily limited to that which canbe conveniently manipulated by hand. The balls so` formed are in factnecessarily so small that it is not practical to produce large billetsfrom them. Atleast, a vbillet cannot be rolled from a single hand madeball which will be large enough for many 'purposes'. Furthermore, theloss in busheland to the high temperature for the same ing furnaces byoxidation is excessive. This probably results from the fact that thesmaller pieces of the charge are subjected tothe same temperature as thelarger pieces length of time. The balls so formed are not apt to beuniform and homogeneous in their constitution, because it followsinevitably that certain parts ofthe charge are more thoroughly heatedthan others. Furthermore, the opera-tion of hand busheling is of such a'character that the resulting ball is only ver-y roughly a ball and isof such a light and porous 'character that a ball, weighing say twohundred pounds, which is about the ordinary size which can be 'readilyproduced by `a workman in a busheling furnace, is of substantially thesame size as a five hundred pound ball produced by my new process, and,at the same time, the surface of such hand busheled ball is so rough andirregular that it cannot be rolled or formed directly into a billetsuitable for rolling into commercial art-icles.l Consequently, thepractice is to rollsuch balls into muck bars, which are then used toform -the boxes inclosing piles of scrap metal, which are then heated toa Welding heat in a furnace, as stated in the previous paragraph, Iandrolled into billets. S0, also, the process of hand busheling in a'busheling furnace is unnecessarily expensive in fuel cost.

My process, which involves several features preferably, though notnecessarily, used in conjunction, obviates,- or at least minimizes, the'objections to the methods of welding scrap above described., Accordingto this process, the balling can be done entirely by machinery, thuseliminating high .priced hand labor. A much larger ball can be .formedthan ispossible ina busheling furnace; in fact, a ball can be producedfrom which a billet can be formed large enough for almost any of theordinary rolling operations.

An additional feature of advantage of my process, which makes machineballing'of scrap practical, is that, where the balling is done bymachinery, it is possible to produce in the balling furnace a ball whichis, for all practical purposes, truly spherical, which shape isnecessary for the most successful, economical handling of the ballv inthe .squeezer` because no care need be taken in positioning the ball inthe 'squeezer in any particular manner and, under the pressure of thesqueezer, which will be equally distributed in all directions, the ballwill be' given a regular shape which is desirable for the mosteconomical and best handling of the metal in the rolls after leaving thesqueezer. Further. the scrap is heated in such way as to minimizeoxidation and obtain a heating to approximately a uniform degree of theentire charge. As an additional feature, the scrap is cleaned and theimpurities removed before it goes into the'welding chamber. Thisimproves the productand also minimizes the deposit of slag in thewelding chamber. r'tccording to this improved process, the scrap issubjected to a preheating operation before it reaches the Welding orballing chamber. Preferably'the temperature to which the charge issubjected in preheating is at first comparatively low and is afterwardincreased. Preferably the scrap is caused to travel roman initialtemperature through a heating zone in which the temperature graduallyincreases until it reaches the welding temperature in the ballingchamber. .Preferably also the scrap is spread out and agilated or keptinmotion, by preference rolled over a highly heated, hard surface Whilebeing subjected to the initial heating; the purpose of this being tothoroughly heat all of the pieces of the charge andheat them on allsides. This agitation also dislodges the scale, rust and the like withwhich the scrap is apt to be incrusted` and preferably these impuritiesare carried ott1 by a hot blast which accomplishes the preheating.

. that a separation is made between the pieces according to weight, theheavier pieces reaching the balling chamber before those which arerelatively lighter. By this means the heavier parts of the charge, whichneed the most heat, are subjected to the intensely high temperature ofthe balling chamber for a longer period of time than the lighter pieces.Eventually all of the charge is collected inthe balling chamber andagglomerated in the form of a ball by being rolled in contact with thehard surface l'of the interior of the balling chamber. The ball thusformed, after being removed from the furnace, lmay be put through asqueezer, of familiar construction, While still hot, and is then readyfor the rolls, with or without reheating, as the case may be. It willAthus be seen that, without any separate treatment, the superficialimpurities are-removed, that the entire charge need be exposed to a hightemperature only long enough to bring the largest pieces to a weldingtemperature, thus decreasing the fuel cost and very greatly increasingthe speed with which the entire charge is heated, 4and that, in thepreferred practice of my process, the heavcharge, after being Firstscattered, is col# lected together again only when the parts have allbeen broughtto a welding heat, thus avoiding the difculties andobjections incident to attempting to heat the charge in a body, whilenevertheless utilizing the weight of the mass of the charge-'to weld theparticles of scrap together into a single mass.

As stated, this processv decreases the amount. of slag deposited in theballing chamber by removal of incrusted impurities during the preheatingstage and by mini-l mizing oxidation'. There will necessarily be someslag. however, in the balling charnber and this I can control bythrowing into the chamber, after each balling operation, a quantity offinely divided meta-l, such as iron -borings for example, which, whenmelted. mix with the slag, the mixture being absorbed by the' ballsubsequently formed, or by drawing off any excess slag, although withthis treatment the slag not absorbed will be of relatively smallquantity.4

Any excess of slag ,which is absorbed, as the result of thistreatment,will. of course, beremoved when the ball is put through the squeezer. Yv

am aware that it has been. proposed to ball scrap mechanically in arotary furnace, but, so far as I am aware, the efforts in this line, upto the time of my invention, have not proved successful. p

The process in its details will be best understood by reference to theaccompanying drawings, which show, somewhat diagrammatically, two formsof furnace, somewhat differentI in their construction, `but bothsuitable for carrying out the process. It will be understood, however,that the invent-'ion is not limited to the use of either of thesepractice the process by means of apparatus diferen'tly constructed.

In these drawings, Figure l is aside elevation of one form of furnace.Fig. 2 is a plan View of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of anotherfurnace; and Fig. 4f is a sectional plan of the rotary element thereof.

Lilie characters of reference indicate like Referring first to Figs. 1and Q, A represents. the fire boX, B the rotary welding chamber whichcommunicates at one end with a flame-way C leading from the fire bex, .Da barrel or cylindrical tumbler, as

`it may be termed, and E a flue, preferably a down flue, which carriesoff the products of combustion from the barrel D. The rotary portion ofthe furnace B, I) is mounted on rollers F supportedon a turn-table Gr.The rotary element is preferably mounted 'so that. the axis thereof isoblique to the horizontal, the end of the barrel adjoining the ballmgchamber being lowerthan the otherend. The furnace -is charged byrotating the turn-table so as to bring the barM rel to the position ofthe dotted lines in Fig. 2, the charge being introduced at the upper endof the barrel, while the ball is being removed fromthe balling chamber.iVhen the rotary -is returned toxits normal position, it is revolved onits axis by any suitable mechanism (not shown).

For the best results, the barrel and balling chamber are lined with firebrick or similar refractory material, which is preferably brought to avery high temperature before the4 treatment of the'metal begins. Toattain the highest efficiency, as nearly perfect combustion as possibleis brought about in the combustion chamber and .the resulting flame isdischarged, by a suitable construction of the flame-way, diagonallytoward the bottom of the balling chamber,

preferably so as to sweep the bottom of the- .balling chamber, whichresult is best obtained by the form of chamber shown in Fig. 4, andthence rising to sweep through the barrel and out through the stack.-lTo maintain the most efficient temperature in the balling chamber, thejoint between the balling chamber and the furnace is inclined toward thefurnace, so that any tendency to kdevelop an inflow of air, which mightcool parts in the several figures of the drawings.

fine

ln practice l attain the best results by developing a White hot heat-inthe balling chamber, the temperature from the balling chamber throughthe rotating barrel diminishing, so that adjacent to the stack l usuallyfind the burning gases a light lemon color.

The furnace having been brought to a proper temperature, the rotatingmember is swung to the position shown in dotted lines in F ig. 2 and thecharge is deposited in a mass in the charging end of the barrel. '.lhisbarrel is preferably of such length, with relation to the angle ofinclination from vthe charging end to the balling `cham ber, that theentire charge -Will be spread out and separated into individual units,as the rotation of the barrel causes the charge to travel toward theballing chamber.

The initial, rotation of the barrel causes a spreading of the. chargelongitudinally7 and transversely of the barrel and the inclination ofthe same eventually feeds the scrap into the balling chamber B. lf thecharge consists of .pieces of different sizes, the heavier' pieces Willtravel more rapidly and reach the balling chamber before those which arerelatively lighter. The charge spread out in the barrel is subjected tothe hotblastfrom the lire box n, the'heat of which increases as themetal approaches the balling chamber. During this feeding operation thepieces of metal are rolled around Vthe inner surface ofthe barrel, sothat the pieces are heated on all sides. Moreover, the agitationto whichthe charge is thus subjected results in dislodging the incrusted scale,dirt, rust and the like, and these impurities are carried ott1 by thehot blast. Eventually all of the charge is collected in the ballingchamber and there formed into an agglomeration of more or less sphericalform. The ball thus formed is rolled around until it. is sutllcientlycompact and spherical and until all of the metal is collected and, afterthe rotary has again been shifted to the dotted line position in Fig. 2,can be removed and put through the squeezer.

l`he barrel may be of subh length with relation to the inclination ofits bottom and to its speed of rotation that, with the propertemperature maintained, the entire charge -will he brought 'to a Weldingtemperature substantially during the time it takes for the smallest orlightest particles to travel from the charging end of the barrel intothe balling chamber, or vvith a shorter barrel and a suitable peepdiole,which ljhave used with marked successA` the barrelwill be first operatedwith a succession of rotations and stops, until all particles of 'thecharge have been brought to a Welding heat and nconveyed into theballing chamber, whereupon the barrel, With the hailing reiaevi chamber,will then be rotated at a relatively high speed until the charge isWelded together into a ball. The reasons for this operation are these:First, the barrel is -preferably rotated luntil the individual pieces ofscrap composing the charge are separated and spread out on the highlyheated, refractory lining of the barrel, whereby each piece issurrounded by the blast of flame passing through the barrel, except thesurface which rests upon the White hot. lining. The barrel is then givena succession 'of short rotations, so that each particle of the charge isshifted to a new surface in the bottom of the barrel, thus removing itfrom thesurface upon which it has been rested and which has slightlycooled and also tending tovturn over each particle. At the same time,these successive rotations of the barrel tend to carry the heavierparticles into the zone of higher temperature and to drop them into theball ing chamber in advance of the lighter particles. By theseoperations, the travel of the lightest particles into the zone ofhighest temperature is delayed until these lightest particles arebrought to a Welding heat, by which time the heavier particles, whichhave arrived in the zone of highest temperature in advance of thelighter pieces, have also been brought to a Welding heat, Whereupon, tominimize loss by oxidation, it is noir desirable to Weld the masstogether as rapidly as possible, and this is accomplished by acontinuous rotation 4of the balling chamber at a relatively high speed,whereby the Weight of the mass is utilized to Weld together theindividual particles, all of which have been brought to a Weldingternperature.

Of course, the charge may be so large that the individual units can notbe spread separately on the, White hot lining, but nevertheless thecharge will assume the form of an elongated, loose pile, over andthrough which the blast of heat Will pass and through which heat will beradiated from the heated refractory lining. The continuous orintermittent rotation of the rotary will not only repeatedly change thepositions of the individual units 'of the charge, so that they will beheated, cleaned and purified on all. surfaces, but will also shift lthecharge as an entirety to diderent surfaces of the refractory lining, soas toV most e'lliciently utilize the heat radiated therefrom andmaintain a substantially uniform heating of the refractory lining,.instead of permitting the charge to remain on one sin-face of the lininguntil such ,surface ofthe lining is objectionably cool.

.lin actual practice l have repeatedlyA v" ued charges of live hundredpounds of scrap metal into a substantially spherical l ball .withinseven minutes from the time rio the cold charge was fed into thecharging end of the barrel, while I have operated such an apparatus asis shown in the drawings for eight hours at a time, so as, with onemachine, to convert five hundred pounds of cold scrap iron into arelatively solid, roughly spherical ball once in every ten minutes, thetime being roughly divided into five minutes for the preheating andtravel of the scrap through the barrel and somewhat less than fiveminutes for forming the ball in the balling chamber, t-he ball beingremoved from the balling chamber and the next charge put insimultaneously, this operation taking about fifteen seconds fram thetime the rotary member is swung to the dotted position shown in Fig. 2until it is swungy back again into operating position.

In order to increase the temperature of \the furnace, the tire box isconstructed with a bridge lwall H perforated as indicated at h and airis introduced intothe furnace through these perforations by means of a`pipe I. Preferably' the bridge wall is so located that the air blastspass through the lower part of the flame-way. It willbeobvious that anyother means might be employed for increasing the supply of oxygen in thefurnace. In order that 'the products of combustion from the fire box maybe directed downwardly into the balling cham-` ber, the fire box haspreferably the slanted wall c above the bridge wall. Flue E is a downdraft flue in order that the hot'flames passing through the barrel maybe kept down close tothe metal.

After taking out the ball, I preferably Vthrow a quantity of ironborings into the balling chamber. rlhis, when heated up, unites with theslag and the mixture is absorbed by the ball which is subsequently made.Cbviously it may not! be necessary to perform this operation after eachball, while, if any excess of slag should develop, it can be drawn olffrom time to time through a suitable port in the balling chamber,although such operation will be necessary only at rare intervals.

In Figs. 3 and etuis shown a 'modified form of furnace. The rotaryelement, here designated B', D', may be mounted with its axis eitherhorizontal or somewhat oblique, as in the case of the other furnace,preferably the latter. In either event the barrel D is tapered, beinglarger at the balling chamber end than at the feeding-in end. Thetapered or flared barrel I consider preferable to the straightbarrelshown in the preceding figures, because it gives a better feed of thescrap, the taper of the barrel overcoming any tendency of the scrapto'roll or crowd back. The configuration of the balling chamber is like-Wise different. The curvature of the portion of the inner surface of theballing chamber B adjacent the fire boX is on a greater arc than that ofthe portion adjacent the barrel. That is, the portion of the surface onwhich'the ball rolls owing to the tilting of the rotary element isflattened and broadened, so that, as the ball turns over with therevolution of the balling chamber, it has also a tendency to rollatrifle in a direction at right angles to its general line of travel,that is, backwardlytoward the barrel and into the bottom of the ballingchamber. This insures a substantially spherical shape to the ball. Thisshape of the balling chamber also gives added eiiciency, because itpermits thedownwardly directed flame to travel across and close to thebottom of the balling chamber, so as to direct the mostintense heatagainstthe charge in the balling chamber as the pieces of scrap begin todrop into that chamber, while, as the ball begins to form, the flamewill strike against the ball in the bottom of the chamber and spread, soas to surround the ball, whereas the form of chamber shown in Fig. 1tends to direct the blast of flame away from the bottom of the chamber.

In Fig. 4 the feeding of a charge of the .f

scrap is illustrated diagrammatically, the differences in size betweenthe different pieces being considerably exaggerated for the purpose ofmaking the illustration more graphic. y

I do not claim herein the appara-tus shown and described, as suchapparat-us forms the subject-matter of my co-pending application SerialNo. 601,132 filed January 6. 1911.'

lVhile, for convenient terminology, I have referred to my process in theclaims as the art of balling7 scrap and in the preferred practice of myoperation this term is absolutely correct, because the scrap is formedinto a sphere, nevertheless it should be understood that my inventionmay be practiced to advantage in forming or welding the scrap into formsother than that of a sphere. and it should, therefore, be understoodthat the term balling as used in the claims, applies to the processregardless ofthe particular shape given to the mass in the finishingchamber, which is for convenience termed the balling7 chamber, becauseordinarily the mass will be formed into a roughly spherical mass in thatchamber.

It should also be understood that where in the claims I refer tomechanically 7 balling scrap, this term is used to designate the processwhereby the scrap is welded or formed into a lmass by the operation ofmechanism after the scrap has been brought to a welding condition, asdistinguished from the manual manipulation of the mass of scrap into aball or other unitary form.

that, theretore, the hailing operation is completed Whenever .thisresult is attained regardless ot theprecise contour or consistency oitthe ball, although a ,relatively compact ball, such as will be producedby my Y spread out process, is preferable, because it occupies less bulktor the same Weight ot material, can, therefore, be more readily handledand passed through the squeezers and rolls, re quires ,less rolling toWeld it to a homon geneous mass and, therefore, can be brought to morecomplete form Without reheating after the ball is produced. For thesereasons it Will ordinarily be ot no utility to continue the `welding .orcalling operation in the balling chamber sitter the charge has beensuiiiciently Welded together to enable it to be handled as a.singlemass, 'for such continuedA treatment involves an unneces sary furnaceloss and ituel expense andthe further steps of reducing the ball to ahomogeneous body ot iron can better be accomplished in devices such asthe sqncezers and rolls.

l claim:

l. The improvement Iin the art of balling scrap, which consists insubjecting the scrap to preheating operation and thereupon introducing`the scrap so heated, and in a loose mass into a Zone ot Weldingtemjjierature and there welding the same into a ball. l

2 The improvei it in the art or" helling scrap, which comprises passinga loose mass ot scrap 'through heating zone in such a manner as to causethe particles ot scrap to travel at differential speedsgA according toAWeight., into a hailing Zone and Welding the s lap into a ball in sai-dhailing irovement lin the art of balling consist-s in subjecting thescrap scrap, Whic.

ng operation Whilf spread out to preh e in a rela Weight during suchpreheating, thereupon introducing the scrap so heated into a ballingchamber and Welding the same intoa ball.

4;. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, 'which consists insubjecting the scrap to a preheating operation -which it is V d causedto travel in vthin i. region oit lr r temperature, ,on introducing thescrap so layer thro 'elyithin layer, causing the par f ticles oit scrapto separate according to heated, and in a loose mass, into a zone ofWelding temperature and there welding the same into a ball.

5. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, which consists in'subjecting the scrap to a preheating operation, keeping the same inagitatioirduring such preheating, and thereupon introducing the scrap soheated into a balling chamber and Welding the same into a ball.

6. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, which consists insubjecting the scrap, While spread out in a relatively thin layer, to aprehcating in a Zone of increasing temperature, causing the particles ofscrap 'to travel through said zone at differential speeds' according toWeight, and thereupon introducing the scrap so heated into a ballingchamber and Welding'the same into a ball.

7. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, Which consists insubjecting the scrap while spread out in a relatively thin layer, to aprehcating operation at a temperature which is gradually increased,imparting a rolling movement to the same during such preheating, and.thereupon introducing the scrap so heated into a balling chamber andWelding the same into a ball.

8. The improvement in the artot balling scrap,- vvhich consists insimultaneously heating the scrap, subjecting it to agita tion whichdislodges the adhering impurities therefrom, removing said impurities,V`

and thereupon'introducing the scrap While so heated into a ballingchamber and Welding the same into a ball.

9. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, which consists insimultaneously heating the scrap, subjecting it to an agitation 'tor thepurpose of dislodging the adhering impurities, at the same timesubjecting it to a blast which removes said impurities, and thereuponintroducingl the scrap, AWhile so heated, into a balling cham ber andWelding the same into a ball.

l0. The improvement in the 'artof balling scrap, which consists inmaking a separation according to Weight between the pieces constituting'a given charge and feedingI the heavier pieces into a hailing chainberin advance ot those relativelv lighter, collecting the scrap together insaid 'helling chamber and Welding it into a ball.

ll. The improvement in the art of ball ing scrap, which consists inmaking separation according to' Weight between the piecesjconstituting agiven charge and feed ing the heavier pieces into a calling chamber inadvance ot those relatively lighter, subjecting the charge, While sobeing ted, to a preheating operation, collecting the scrap togetherinthe hailing chamber and Welding it into a balh lll@ liti

ing scrap, which consists in making a separation `according to Weightbetween the pieces constituting a given charge andv feeding the heavierpieces into a balling chamberl in advance of those relatively lighter,subjecting the charge While so being fed to a. preheating operation inwhich the temperature is gradually increased, collecting the scraptogether in the balling chamber and Welding itinto a ball.

13. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, which consists inmaking a separation according 'to Weight between' thepieces'constituting a given charge, feeding theheavier pieces into aballing chamber in advance `of those -which are relatively lighter,agitating the charge, as it is' so fed, and subjecting it to apreheating operation,

vcollecting the scrap together in the balling chamber, and Weldingitinto a ball.

14. The improvement in the art of balling scrap, which consists inmaking a separation according to Weight between the pieces constitutinga given charge, feedingI --the heavier pieces into a. ba-lling chamberbefore those which are relatively lighter, agitat-ing the charge and atthe same time subject-ing it to a hot blast which removes the impuritiesdislodged by the agitation and heats the metal, collecting the scraptogether in the balling chamber and Welding it into a ball.

15. The process of balling scrap, which consists in subjecting t-hescrap to a preheating, then introducing it into a region of. higher'temperature and Welding it into a mass by rolling together in contactwit a. hard surface.

16. The process of balling scrap, which consists in subjecting the scrapto a preheating operation in which the temperature '1s graduallyincreased, then introducing the sameinto a region of high temperatureandv uniting it into a. ball by rotating in contact with a hard surface.y

17. r1`he process of balling scrap, which consists in spreading thescrap outin a relativelythin layer, subjecting it to a preheatingoperation and theninrroducing it in'to a. region of high temperature inwhich it isv rolled yin contact with a hard surface.

18. The process of hailing scrap, which consists in spreading the scrapout in a thin lighter, reducing the metal in said zone of hightemperature to a Weldable condition, and uniting the same in a solidmass.

20. The process ofballing scrap metal, Which consists in making 'aseparation vbetween the pieces of .metal constituting a -chargeaccording to the Weight of such pieces, feeding the same through aregion of gradually increasing temperature into a zone of intense heatin such manner thatV the heavier pieces enter said zone in advance ofthosewhich are relatively lighter, reducing the metal in said Zone ofintense heat toa weldable condition, and uniting t-he same in ainass.

21. The process of balling scrap metal, which consists in feeding bygravit-y a -charge -of the scrap through a region of graduallyincreasing temperature into a zone of more intense heat in such mannerthat an automatic separation takes place between t-he lpieces lof metalconstituting the charge in accordance .with t-he Weights thereof, sothat t-he ,heavy pieces reach the zone of intense heat before thosewhich are relatively lighter, reducing the metal in such zone ofintenseheat to a Weldable condition, and rolling the saine into a mass.

22. Theprocess of balling scrap' metal, which consists in feeding, bygravity, a charge of the scrap through a region of gradually increasingtemperature into a zone of more intense heat, in such manner that aseparation takes place between the pieces of metal constituting thecharge, in accordance with the Weights thereof` so that the heavy piecesreach the Zone ofintense heat before those which are relatively lighter.and then Welding together the metalin the zone of intense heat bycausing the same to be rolled. in contact With a hard surface. z

25%. The process of b'alling scrap metal, which consists in feeding thecharge graduv,ally"through a region of increasing temperature into alzone of high temperature sufficient to reduce it to a Weldablecondition, and Welding the charge into a mass 1n said 'zone by causingitv to be rolled in contact with a hard surface.

Q4. The process of balling scrap inetal, Which consists in feeding thecharge into a zone of intense heat by causing it to be moved over aninclined shifting surface, which makes a separation between the piecesaccording to their weight and carries the heavier'pieces into said zonein advance of those which are'relativelylighter, causing the charge whenso fed to .be agitated so as to remove dirt, rust and scale, anddirecting a hotlblast from said zone of intense heat overl the chargeWhile being so fed, which blast carries off such impurities and heatsthe charge during the feeding operation, and uniting the metal collectedin said zone ILOr . proportion to their respective masses, and

v'scrap in a rotary furnace, which consists `in of intense heat byVrolling the same in c'ontact with a hard `surface when in Weldablecondition.

25. The process of Weldingscrap metal into a relatively homogeneousmass, which, comprises feeding a charge of scrap metal by gravity towarda Zone of Welding heat, causing the parts comprising the charge totravel to the zone of Welding heat at differential speeds in proportionto their respective Weights, whereby the heavier parts of the chargewill first enter the zone of Welding heat and the lightest parts Willlast enter said zone, an d then holding the charge in said zone untilthe parts thereof are Welded together as required.

26. The process of Welding scraps of metal into a substantiallyhomogenous body, which comprises ycausing a charge of such scraps ofdi-iferent sizes to enter and to travel through a heated zone to a zonevof higher temperature, adapted to bring the charge to Welding heat, insuch manner that the heavier pieces first enter the Zone of Welding heatand are followed by the others in retaining the entire charge in thezone of Welding heat, with the pieces of scrap yin intimate contact Witheach other, until the charge is Welded together as required. 27. Theprocess of Welding pieces of scrap metal of different sizes into asubstantiaily homogeneous mass, which comprises gradually .feeding acharge of such pieces by gravity toward a Zone of Welding heat in suchmanner that ,the heavier pieces first enter said Zone, agitatingtliecharge during such travel, Wherebyscale, dirt, et cetera, areloosened therefrom, directing ablast across the charge during suchtravel, whereby the loosened scale, dirt, et cetera are carried away,and rolling together the pieces comprising the charge as they reach theZone of Welding heat until they are lWelded together, substantially asdescribed.

2S. The process of balling scrap, which consists in feeding a givencharge of preheated scrap little by little into a region of intenseheat, collecting the same therein and uniting it into a ball by rollingin contact with a hard surface. l

29. The improvement in the art of Welding which consists in mixing metalin finely divided form With the slag remaining in a Welding chamberafter a Welding operation, introducing a Welding charge into saidchamber and subjecting the entire charge to a Welding heat and agitationwhereby said mixture of slag and finely divided metal is absorbed insaid charge. y

30. The improvement in the art of balling introducing into the ballingchamber, after a ball has been removed therefrom, 'a quantity of hnelydivided' metal, heating this parasiet metal and mixing it y'vvijtlfi:theslag in said .furnace by rotating the furnace, and absorbing the mixtureso formed by rollingl the 'next ball in contact therewith."

. 31. The improvement in the art of forming a mass of metal from scrap,which comprises spreading a charge of scrap so as to substantiallyseparate all of the individual pieces, 'simultaneously heating all;` ofthe pieces composing the charge, then bringing together the charge thusheated an, retaining it in a zone of sufficiently high temperature untilthe charge is Welded together in a single mass.

32. The improvement in the art 'of forminw a mass of metal from scrap,which coniprises spreading a charge of scrap so 'as tov substantiallyseparate all of the individual pieces, simultaneously heating all of thepieces composing the charge, .then bringing together the charge thusheated, and then giving such motion to the' charge ina zone of hightemperature that the charge is Welded together in a single mass.

33. The improvement in the art of forming a mass of metal from scrap,'which comprises spreading a charge of scrap so as to substantiallyseparate all ofthe individual pieces, simultaneously heating all of the.pieces composing thecharge, then bringing together the charge. thusheated, and thenv i giving such motion to the charge in a Zone of hightemperat-ure that the charge .is welded together into aA mass ofpredetermined. form. A

'34. The improvement in the art of ball- Y ing scrap, which comprisesfeeding a charge of scrap into a zone Vof high temperature, spreading.the pieces of scrap composing the charge so that they are substantiallyseparated from each' other, simultaneously raising the pieces composingthe charge to a Welding temperature, ,bringing together the charge thusheated and rolling the mass thus producedv in a zone of high temperatureuntil the charge is Welded into a mass 0fsubstant-ially spherical form.

rlihe improvement in the art of balling scrap whicliconsists in thecontinuous process of preheatingthe scrap and immediately subjecting thescrap, Without intermediate cooling, to a balling operation in thepresence of a Welding temperature.

36. The improvement in the art of ballingl scrap, which comprisespassing the scrap through a preheating zone directly into a zoneofWelding temperature and there subjecting it to a balling operation.

317. Theimprovement in the art of Welding scrap which comprises the.continuous process of 'preheating and agitating the scrap While spreadin a thin layer, and immediately subjecting the saine, Withoutinterrifiedi'ate'A cooling, to a-Welding operation in a zone of weldingtemperature.

38. The improvement in the art of Welding scrap, vvhich comprisespreheating the scrap and immediately thereupon bringing the scrap.,lAvhile t-hus heated, together in a loose mass in a Zone of Weldingtemperature and there Welding the scrap together into a single body.

` 39. The improvement in the art oit Welding scrap, which comprisespreheating the scrap to a temperature less than a Welding temperatureand thereupon, Without inter mediate cooling, int-roducing the loosemass of scrapinto a zone of Welding temperature and there Welding thesame together into a single body.

40. The improvement in the art of Welding scrap, which comprisespreheating the scrap by subjecting it to a temperature which isgradually increased and thereupon, without intermediate cooling orpressing, introducing the scrap thus heated into a zone of highertemperature .in which the scrap is brought to a Welding heat, and thereWelding the same together into a single body.

41. The improvement in the art of Welding scrap which comprisesagitating the scrap and subjecting it to a hot blast Which carries ofthe dislodged impurities and gives the metal a preheating, and\thereupon introducing the metal -so heated into a Zone of Weldingvtemperature and there Welding it together into a single body.

42. The improvement in the art of Welding scrap, Which consists infeeding a given charge of scrap into a zone of Welding temperature, alittle at a time, and so that the heavier pieces are introduced beforethose which are relatively lighter, collecting the charge together insaid -zone of Welding temperature, and Welding itl into a single body.

` DAVID H. LENTZ.

Witnesses P. H. TRUMAN., L. A. FALKENBERG.

